Just a question out of curiousity. Why do Protestant sects who adhere to Sola-Scriptura--that is, Bible Only, believe in the doctrine of the Trinity? The Trinity was developed by the Church and is never explicitely explained in the Bible. Sure, it may have been briefly implied in certain instances, but there are not any smoking-gun proof passages in the Bible that support the Trinity as far as I know. Most of the purely Biblical arguments in support of the Trinity seem rather unconvincing and built more on speculation than the actual Bible to be honest. I don't see how you can believe these arguments and believe in the Trinity UNLESS you accepted the authority of the Church and extra-biblical sources--something that most Protestant sects refuse to do.

In a sense, it seems like as time goes on, more and more Protestants are actually trying to return back to the Sacraments, fasts and "traditional Christianity"--yet, they are doing it by trying to isolate the Church from it and desperately trying to form these strange, enourmously implicit arguments to prove that their practice is "rooted in the Bible" by twisting, isolating and using even the most basic, obscure, shortest passage there is in the Bible in ways that you would never think to use that scripture before, in order to support some odd theological practice that is more rooted in speculation and a desire for order than actually in the Bible. Such as the "Daniel Fast"--which is a half-butted attempt at having their own form of the Church's official Lent, to all these weird "spiritual retreat Jesus camp" thingys that seem to be a knockoff of the Church's monastic practices, to belief in the doctrine of the Trinity--which is purely rooted in the Church.

How long till they throw in the towel and just return back to proper Christianity instead of all these desperate attempts to recreate it?

Okay, an attempt at a relatively simple answer based on my experience. One, many Protestants believe strongly the Roman Church is wrong. Two, many Protestants have never heard of the Eastern Orthodox Church or if they have only a cursory exposure to it, believe it to be virtually the same as the Roman Church, see point one. None the less, three, they have their own tradition to follow even if many may not realize that. Four, their tradition springs from the Reformers who generally had some very specific things they were rejecting about the Roman Church, of which things the Trinity was not one. Five, they feel drawn back to the old ways because that as they way God intended things to be in the first place. But, six, see points one and two. So, seven, what else are they to do to regain the old ways with the limited resources available to them. This of course is not all Protestants and is based on my experience and observations as a former Protestant minister. Your milage may vary.

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Psalm 37:23 The Lord guides a man safely in the way he should go.

Prov. 3: 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.

I just looked at the numbers, Jehovah Witness and Mormons combined are about 1% of that 2.2 Billion number.

Since when are Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons Christian?

In Christ,Andrew

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"I will pour out my prayer unto the Lord, and to Him will I proclaim my grief; for with evils my soul is filled, and my life unto hades hath drawn nigh, and like Jonah I will pray: From corruption raise me up, O God." -Ode VI, Irmos of the Supplicatory Canon to the Theotokos

Where can a reasonable line be drawn? When does a group pass from Christian to non-Christian

I am very hesitant to extend the title of Christian to anyone outside of Orthodoxy. I realize this is a rather unpopular thing to say.

In Christ,Andrew

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"I will pour out my prayer unto the Lord, and to Him will I proclaim my grief; for with evils my soul is filled, and my life unto hades hath drawn nigh, and like Jonah I will pray: From corruption raise me up, O God." -Ode VI, Irmos of the Supplicatory Canon to the Theotokos

Where can a reasonable line be drawn? When does a group pass from Christian to non-Christian

Didn't our fathers get together and write some kind of creed to answer this question?

Yes and then that would exclude, anyone outside the apostolic church, so that leave many groups falling outside the line of Christian, if this is truely the case then many many many people are in danger, This I believe includes myself.

Where can a reasonable line be drawn? When does a group pass from Christian to non-Christian

Didn't our fathers get together and write some kind of creed to answer this question?

Yes and then that would exclude, anyone outside the apostolic church, so that leave many groups falling outside the line of Christian, if this is truely the case then many many many people are in dainger, This I believe includes myself.

The doors are always open, brother.

In Christ,Andrew

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"I will pour out my prayer unto the Lord, and to Him will I proclaim my grief; for with evils my soul is filled, and my life unto hades hath drawn nigh, and like Jonah I will pray: From corruption raise me up, O God." -Ode VI, Irmos of the Supplicatory Canon to the Theotokos

Coming from a protestant background, I became convinced of a roughly orthodox understanding of Heaven and Hell, based on Scripture alone (it came as a big surprise to me that when I later discovered that other Christians already believed this).

Likewise, if you take all scripture, Old and New Testaments, as inspired and essential for establishing doctrine, the basic three in one and one in three is a reasonable conclusion to come to. Having said that, I'm not sure "without mixing, "without separation" etc is quite so obvious.

Coming from a protestant background, I became convinced of a roughly orthodox understanding of Heaven and Hell, based on Scripture alone (it came as a big surprise to me that when I later discovered that other Christians already believed this).

Orthodox understanding of Heaven and Hell is a suprise to me as well.Hell describe as a place which god(s) create(s) in order to punish and torture the devils and wicked men in the Protestant , Catholic , Islam , Buddism or even all traditional myths in different countries.And all savage and voilence torments that you can think are in the Hell!

Probably because they recognise the theological importance of the doctrine, in terms of the incarnation, the person of Christ and various other factors. Though the sola scripturist would moan at a unitarian (for good reason mind you), without the constant tradition of the church their argument falls flat.

"Sola Scriptura" doesn't mean that the Bible is the only source of teaching and doctrine. It means that it is the only infallible source(I know you folks hate that word) and that all that is necessary for salvation can be found within it.

"Sola Scriptura" doesn't mean that the Bible is the only source of teaching and doctrine. It means that it is the only infallible source(I know you folks hate that word) and that all that is necessary for salvation can be found within it.

I believe I'd give you that point. I also believe many of my Protestant friends would not, at least at first glance. Though I do think some would likely be open minded enough to hear you out and agree after some consideration. Others, not so much.

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Psalm 37:23 The Lord guides a man safely in the way he should go.

Prov. 3: 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.

"Sola Scriptura" doesn't mean that the Bible is the only source of teaching and doctrine. It means that it is the only infallible source(I know you folks hate that word) and that all that is necessary for salvation can be found within it.

If that's so (and I'm sure you know there are Protestants who will disagree with you on that), then why do they have the fallible interpret the infallible? BTW, I hate the word folks.

In Christ,Andrew

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"I will pour out my prayer unto the Lord, and to Him will I proclaim my grief; for with evils my soul is filled, and my life unto hades hath drawn nigh, and like Jonah I will pray: From corruption raise me up, O God." -Ode VI, Irmos of the Supplicatory Canon to the Theotokos

"Sola Scriptura" doesn't mean that the Bible is the only source of teaching and doctrine. It means that it is the only infallible source(I know you folks hate that word) and that all that is necessary for salvation can be found within it.

"Sola Scriptura" doesn't mean tht the Bible is the only source of teaching and doctrine. It means that it is the only infallible source(I know you folks hate that word) and that all that is necessary for salvation can be found within it.

Can we define infallible please!?!

The Scripture is the the word of God, so what the bible say and the teaching in it must be 100% correct.

"Sola Scriptura" doesn't mean that the Bible is the only source of teaching and doctrine. It means that it is the only infallible source(I know you folks hate that word) and that all that is necessary for salvation can be found within it.

"Sola Scriptura" doesn't mean tht the Bible is the only source of teaching and doctrine. It means that it is the only infallible source(I know you folks hate that word) and that all that is necessary for salvation can be found within it.

Can we define infallible please!?!

The Scripture is the the word of God, so what the bible say and the teaching in it must be 100% correct.

Your reasoning seems kinda circular to me. You consider Mormons and JW's non-Christian because they don't believe in the Trinity, which then leads you to exclude them from the list of Christians who don't believe in the Trinity because they (Mormons and JW's) are not Christian.

Your reasoning seems kinda circular to me. You consider Mormons and JW's non-Christian because they don't believe in the Trinity, which then leads you to exclude them from the list of Christians who don't believe in the Trinity because they (Mormons and JW's) are not Christian.

Yeah, I think I would go with something along the lines of non-Trinitarian heretical Christian sect.

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Psalm 37:23 The Lord guides a man safely in the way he should go.

Prov. 3: 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.

"Sola Scriptura" doesn't mean tht the Bible is the only source of teaching and doctrine. It means that it is the only infallible source(I know you folks hate that word) and that all that is necessary for salvation can be found within it.

Can we define infallible please!?!

The Scripture is the the word of God, so what the bible say and the teaching in it must be 100% correct.

"Sola Scriptura" doesn't mean tht the Bible is the only source of teaching and doctrine. It means that it is the only infallible source(I know you folks hate that word) and that all that is necessary for salvation can be found within it.

Can we define infallible please!?!

The Scripture is the the word of God, so what the bible say and the teaching in it must be 100% correct.

"Sola Scriptura" doesn't mean tht the Bible is the only source of teaching and doctrine. It means that it is the only infallible source(I know you folks hate that word) and that all that is necessary for salvation can be found within it.

Can we define infallible please!?!

The Scripture is the the word of God, so what the bible say and the teaching in it must be 100% correct.

Scandalous!

This is exactly what Protestant teaches!

He was being sarcastic.

Protestant say that Bible is the word of God, and claim that Holy spirit would guide them to read and interpret the Scriptures , So, bible is infallible.

Just a question out of curiousity. Why do Protestant sects who adhere to Sola-Scriptura--that is, Bible Only, believe in the doctrine of the Trinity?

Hi James. The difficulty with questions like ^^ this is that protestants are not one group. (So it's kind of like asking "What do non-Americans think about democracy?") The fact that you limited your question to protestants who adhere to Sola-Scriptura helps a little, since it excludes e.g. Anglo-Catholics.

Just a question out of curiousity. Why do Protestant sects who adhere to Sola-Scriptura--that is, Bible Only, believe in the doctrine of the Trinity?

Hi James. The difficulty with questions like ^^ this is that protestants are not one group. (So it's kind of like asking "What do non-Americans think about democracy?") The fact that you limited your question to protestants who adhere to Sola-Scriptura helps a little, since it excludes e.g. Anglo-Catholics.

I didn't think he was talking about them as one group. It seems like he qualified it pretty well (using "Protestant sects who adhere to Sola Scriptura").

In Christ,Andrew

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"I will pour out my prayer unto the Lord, and to Him will I proclaim my grief; for with evils my soul is filled, and my life unto hades hath drawn nigh, and like Jonah I will pray: From corruption raise me up, O God." -Ode VI, Irmos of the Supplicatory Canon to the Theotokos

Just a question out of curiousity. Why do Protestant sects who adhere to Sola-Scriptura--that is, Bible Only, believe in the doctrine of the Trinity?

Hi James. The difficulty with questions like ^^ this is that protestants are not one group. (So it's kind of like asking "What do non-Americans think about democracy?") The fact that you limited your question to protestants who adhere to Sola-Scriptura helps a little, since it excludes e.g. Anglo-Catholics.

I didn't think he was talking about them as one group. It seems like he qualified it pretty well (using "Protestant sects who adhere to Sola Scriptura").

In Christ,Andrew

Yes. As I said, that helps a little, since it excludes e.g. Anglo-Catholics.